So I started looking around. What opportunities are actually out there to earn a living without constantly trading time for money?
First port of call: selling online.
I researched what offers were available on the market. Oh! Well, there are charlatans out there, and exorbitant prices are demanded for training – unbelievable.
That was the point where I had to make a decision. Or rather, I wanted to.
What kind of entrepreneur do I want to be?
To maximise revenue with an existing system – that’s what others do too. If I don’t do it, someone else will. We all know these phrases!
Then I would have arrived where others had been before me: financially secure and adjusting my own standards to what everyone else accepts. Everything’s running smoothly!
That is very tempting and very human, which is why it has become so established. As my friends always say: “There goes Langholz again, still chasing the ideals of her youth. – Grow up, girl!”
They’re right. I’ve always had ideals. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to see where reality puts limits on them. But I’ve never let reality destroy them.
I want to be an entrepreneur with ethical principles.
Unlike other entrepreneurs?!
No – with my own principles.
I sincerely hope I can uphold them until my last day.
So I kept searching.
Second approach: to counter the reckless operators out there.
My idea was to help people build another source of income, drawing on their knowledge and experience, at their own pace. People who are expected to work until 70, but are only around 55 and have already been struggling with a bad back for five years, for example.
People who cannot build up savings in their job to the extent that politicians imagine. They need a Plan B that doesn’t promise the moon – with the chic Dubai skyline in the background – but also honestly states that there is never a guarantee and that such a path also requires work, time, and a certain investment.
So I researched how others were doing it.
And that’s when I stumbled upon something that actually had nothing to do with my original idea.
There was a course on the EU AI Act. It was supposed to cost almost €800 and allegedly protect against fines of up to €35 million – even for three-person businesses.
I became curious.
What kind of law is this, where such figures are at stake?
So I started reading.